Saturday, 2 June 2012

And now, the end is near...

No, it's nothing fatal! Both my current freelance contract and the first draft of my children's novel are nearing completion. Part of me feels a little sad about reaching the end of my freelance project, as I've really enjoyed working on it and with the people I've met along the way. I have a strange, almost nomadic existence, as I get to know people in a fairly intimate way in a short space of time, but am obliged to leave quite suddenly once the interview or working partnership has ended. That said, I get great satisfaction out of seeing the end result once it's published. ("And every stop I make, I make a new friend" - apologies for the obscure reference, but anyone old enough to remember The Littlest Hobo will know what I'm 'barking on' about!) As far as the children's novel goes, I'm starting to feel excited at the prospect of having almost completed a first draft! I've written over 52 chapters, equating to roughly 78,000 words - I never knew I had it in me! Of course it will end up an awful lot shorter than that, and I'm half-dreading having to 'murder my darlings' as the expression goes, but I'm sure it will be worth it once it's finished. And with this lovely, long bank holiday weekend stretching out before me like a long stretchy thing, I've really got no excuse to not finish it, have I?

About Me

Born
and raised on a windswept Yorkshire moor, I spent much of my
childhood either reading about adventures or writing my own. 15 years ago, I took my first steps into writing commercially as a newspaper reporter and have worked in editorial roles ever since. For the last five years I've been cracking on with my fiction writing and last year completed my first novel, a middle-grade (9-12) fantasy fiction story. I'm now working on a new middle-grade fantasy adventure while sending out the first MS to agents. When not writing I love being with my family, getting active
outdoors and reading just about anything I can get my hands on.